Wednesday, July 6, 2016

History: The Year is 1821

Attitude Adjustment in Progress -- A radical change in thinking is underway so I am pointing that out.

Tejas is a State of Mind, and a State of Mexico -- Mexico wins its independence from Spain but will soon become an empire that includes Texas.

Russia, the Pacific Northwest, and the Monroe Doctrine -- Russia expands its claim from Alaska into Oregon and then backs off. This triggers President Monroe to start thinking about the Monroe Doctrine.

In Other News -- The microphone, the electric motor, and Popcorn.

Attitude Adjustment in Progress

The world is in the midst of a MAJOR revolution in attitude. All that
came before is left behind as people realize that they are captains of
their own ship. Old government systems have been replaced with new ones.
The average age of a person in the United States is 16 years old! The
Eastern U.S. states are losing population dramatically as settlers move
West to Illinois, Ohio, Tennessee and Kentucky. "Go west, young man!"
Land is cheaper and so are cross-Atlantic transportation costs.
Religion is undergoing a second revolution. The Mormons are on the rise.
The Jews are freed from their ghettos. Church associations and
conventions of all kinds are forming, splitting, and reforming.
Electromagnetism is discovered. The Ice Age theory is proposed. People
who were 20 years old at the end of the Napoleonic Wars (in 1815) will not recognize their world by 1830.
I can't give you the full context of the times in these brief segments,
but something fundamental in the way people think (especially young
people) is changing. [1]

"Go West, young man, go West. There is health in the country, and room away from our crowds of idlers and imbeciles."

Tejas is a State of Mind, and a State of Mexico

Spain is losing control over its colonies on the American continent
as Argentina and Chile have challenged Spanish forces throughout the
South American continent. (Their goal seems to be to kick Spain THE HECK
off this rock.) Venezuela has won it's independence, and a "Freedom
Expedition" has landed on the shores of Peru. Mexico has also won its
independence. Mexico now extends south to the border of Panama and north
to include Tejas (TAY-hahs) (which is mostly modern day Texas), Nuevo Mexico (nu-WAY-vo)
(which is mostly New Mexico, Colorado and West Texas) and Californias,
which is mostly, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and California. Mexico's new
President will become its reigning Emperor by next year. It is going to
be a very short reign. Then Tejas will be joined with the province of
Coahuila (co-ah-WEE-ya) until 1836 when the Republic of Texas will declare its independence.
[3][4]

My Take by Alex ShruggedSince
it was near the 4th of July when I wrote this segment, I had been
watching the musical comedy "1776". The character of Benjamin Franklin
made a joke about the definition of "rebellion" that stuck in my mind.
Someone had asked if it was treasonous to rebel against the King of
England. (King George the 3rd had declared the American colonies to be
in rebellion.) Franklin quipped that rebellion is only treasonous in the
third person.... that is... when someone else is doing it against me.
When I am rebelling, it is in self-defense against a wrongful government
and not treasonous at all. Thus, when Mexico was fighting for it's
freedom from Spain, it was a good thing from Mexico's perspective, but
when Texas was fighting for its freedom from Mexico, suddenly it was bad
thing from Mexico's perspective. It all depends on whose ox is being
gored. [5]

Russia, the Pacific Northwest, and the Monroe Doctrine

Russia made exclusive claim to Alaska in 1799,
but it didn't do much with it except for the colonization of fur
traders. The claim went south to the 55th parallel which is about where
modern day Alaska ends. The new claim goes down the Pacific coast to the
latitude of North 45 degrees 50 minutes which is a good way into modern
day Oregon. Remember that Thomas Jefferson supported the expedition to
Oregon that established the American colony of Astoria. It was a trading
post for furs but with the War of 1812 looming they sold their interest
to a British fur company. The whole thing is now part of Russia. Russia
declares that no foreign vessels are allowed within 100 Italian miles
of Russian ports. Italian miles vary so call it anywhere from 38 to 57
regular miles. The United Kingdom and United States protest, so the
Russians move their claim northward to the 51st parallel which runs
through Calgary and British Columbia. [6][7]

My Take by Alex ShruggedExplorers
from many countries had been through the area in question. Certainly
the Indians were living there, but this seemingly arbitrary declaration
from Tsar Alexander the 1st forced President Monroe to consider what to
do. South America and Mexico were fighting to kick Spain out. The US had
paid 5 million to buy Spanish Florida and the Louisiana Purchase had
removed France. There was a consensus building that foreign colonial
powers ought to stay out of the New World. (The UK was not considered a
foreign power. Really. I'm not kidding.) Thus, President Monroe began
formulating the Monroe Doctrine that would exclude new foreign powers
from the New World. Oddly, it took the cooperation of the UK to make it
happen because, frankly, the US didn't have the power to enforce such a
policy yet. In recent times, the Secretary of State, John F. Kerry, has
stated that the "era of the Monroe Doctrine is over". As I recall,
Russia sent warships to South America right after that... as a goodwill
gesture, no doubt. [8][9][10]

In Other News

The microphone is invented by Sir Charles Wheatstone.
It is different from an electrical microphone but Wheatstone proves
that small sounds can be conveyed across a long distance through
resonance waves and he coins the word microphone. [11][12]

Faraday builds the first electric motor.
Electromagnetism was discovered last year by a Danish scientist. Michael
Faraday is experimenting and suddenly he has "electromagnetic
rotation". Naturally, he is sidelined for embarrassing his betters. [11][13][14]

Popcorn is the new snack food for the East Coast! This variety probably came from Chile. In 1885 a fellow will redesign a peanut roaster into the first popcorn machine. [15][16][17]